It's quite possible that the problem didn't materialize yet. As I seem to recall, there was some swelling back in september, but it seems like he passed his week long inspection with Dr Andrews a couple weeks back.

The point is, it might have taken a while for the problem to become obvious.

I made a point but you seemed to completely miss it...they DIDN'T expect Diaz and Emelin to become instant regulars, they were penciled in as #7-8-9 with Weber. St Denis was #11 on the depth chart or lower...then markov had the setback, capoli got hurt, Nash did also, Spacek got hurt twice and then Gill got an infection.

You think that if Boston loses Chara Seidenberg Ference and Boychuk go out that they won't miss a beat?

last yaer Pittsburgh had a ton of depth at center, then at one point Letestu and talbot were their top 2 centers...you can't really plan for disaster...

I don't think I missed your point. I'm saying that, going into the season, we never had that corps of regulars you mentioned. Our entire roster of healthy, experienced d-men consisted of Gill and Spacek. Period. Gorges was coming off a long-term injury (thankfully, he was okay to start). PK was still a developing star. Weber was a developing 7th d-man. Everyone else was blind optimism.

What does it say about our defense strategy when losing Spacek and a last-minute signing like Campoli throws the team into total disarray?

It's bad news....but I'm not terribly upset by it. I would rather wait another 3+ weeks and have a 100% healthy Markov then have him return and have issues with his knee ongoing.
Besides, another 3+ weeks of mediocre play may be all we need to get JM fired.

It's bad news....but I'm not terribly upset by it. I would rather wait another 3+ weeks and have a 100% healthy Markov then have him return and have issues with his knee ongoing.
Besides, another 3+ weeks of mediocre play may be all we need to get JM fired.

You say that as if it was a certainty... If only it were the case. How many more setbacks before people stop being so sure he'll fully recover?

I'm not saying I don't think it's going to happen, it's just that some posters are optimistic to a fault

For what it's worth, even though I disagree with management's handling of this whole Markov caper, I do appreciate the (seemingly) straightforward reporting of the current problem and probable return date. Assuming things are what they say they are, his knee should be strong and ready to go in about a month. Let's remember that his tendons - the big question mark - appear good.

Okay, "A Markov Christmas" wasn't our ideal scenario when we discussed this in September, but it's preferable to "My Retirement With Andrei".

It's bad news....but I'm not terribly upset by it. I would rather wait another 3+ weeks and have a 100% healthy Markov then have him return and have issues with his knee ongoing.
Besides, another 3+ weeks of mediocre play may be all we need to get JM fired.

Wholeheartedly agree, couldn't say it better myself
a Healthy Markov, JM gone, and a 10 game win streak is all I want for Christmas

Thanks. People need to be reminded that there are trite, pointless expressions out there that need to be ignored.

Montreal's problems are at the centre position, get more production there and you solve a large part of the puzzle.

As much as I agree that this is an overused expression, it's not like it's wrong.

Montreal may need more depth at center but they would never win the cup without a real #1 and #2 as well as defensive depth. We could have Crosby as a Center right now and we wouldn't be good enough to win the cup.

The 80's Oilers might disagree. All you need to win a championship is to outscore your opponents.

I value offense a tad more because you can't win without scoring, but you'll be sure to lose.

The truth is it takes a combination of everything.

I believe it's important that you add ''in 16 games''.
You need to win 16 games, so you need to outscore your opponents for those 16 times, otherwise you could definitely outscore opponents in a series due to high and low scoring games, but end up losing.

As for Markov, obviously this isn't good news. Hopefully this is the last bit of bad news about him we will hear.

Not one of us can know what will happen but having this procedure know before he puts lots of wear and tear(swelling etc) is a good thing. The knee gets cleared up of any debris and what not from the healing and rehab. After this he should be good to go as long as the tendons stay ok which should be the case with the extra time to heal.

How can anybody think this is good news? This is very disappointing news imo. Another 3-5 weeks...and at this point I wouldn't be surprised if it's more than 5 weeks. What a joke. I like Markie, but what a joke this is.

Martin thinks its good news.

As long as Markov is out with his knee, Martin will not be fired. He has the built in excuse of "injuries" to prolong his coaching career in Montreal.

Martin has got it made. Win or lose, matters not. Markov is injured and we are unlucky.